Aboveground Mix
1. Lorde -- Royals: Basically the song of the year. By a teenager no less.
2. Ciara -- Body Party: This song lifts the slow part of the beat from one of my favorite songs of all time:
The song was also sung by Ciara, who was herself just a teenager at the time. This one was a no-brainer for me. It was also one of the hits for breakout producer, Mike Will Made It.
3. Kanye West -- Bound 2 f/ Charlie Wilson: It's not that I didn't appreciate the tone of Yeezus overall, because I did. Kanye might come off as fairly insane during interviews, but the sentiments of his music do have some truth to it. Having said that, this song as the capper is a fantastic reminder that Kanye can be fun, and is one of the best beat flips that you'll find anywhere.
4. Robin Thicke -- Blurred Lines f/ T.I. & Pharrell: This song treads the line between fun and outlandish, but given the waves it made this year, I felt obliged to include it.
5. Lady Gaga -- Do What U Want f/ R. Kelly: Speaking of making waves, little compared with what surfaced about R. Kelly toward the end of the year. I feel pretty conflicted about including a song with him, especially now that I have a daughter. On the one hand, I grew up with R. Kelly. I didn't know about his personal life when I was a kid who fell in love with songs like "Bump And Grind," "Down Low," "I Believe I Can Fly," and others. "Ignition (Remix)" is basically one of my 10 favorite songs, and I've listened to it hundreds -- if not thousands -- of times. On the other hand, some of the things alleged about him are downright disgusting. I suppose that when he was initially acquitted of charges, I shrugged my shoulders and figured it was just haters being haters. But at this point, it's hard to square that view with reality. This article especially drove home what I was feeling. So I think from here on out, I will steer clear of him. Consider this the parting shot.
6. Miley Cyrus -- Wrecking Ball: I would submit that if you just heard this song on the radio and didn't know who was singing it, you'd wholeheartedly enjoy it. Of course, that's probably not possible for most of us, because this was basically Ms. Cyrus' year. And as such, this song had to be here.
7. Lily Allen -- Hard Out Here: One of the few songs on the mix that didn't actually hit the Billboard Hot 100, but I don't care. I love Lily Allen, and this song definitely would have charted if she hadn't spent so much time out of the spotlight.
8. Beyonce -- Pretty Hurts: A more pointed take from Beyonce. I could have easily slipped "XO" or "Drunk In Love" here, but I was especially attracted to this track (as well as "Hard Out Here) because of the birth of my daughter. This song didn't chart either, but given the circumstances surrounding the album's release, that's both not a surprise nor a fair way to judge it.
9. Sara Bareilles -- Brave: What "Roar" would have been if it was, you know, good.
10. Mariah Carey -- #Beautiful f/ Miguel: Still on fire, all these years later, and the duet/assist from Miguel takes this one to another level. This is easily one of her best songs in years.
11. A$AP Rocky -- Fashion Killa: The last of three songs that didn't actually chart. This one wasn't released as a single until November, so it didn't have as much time to chart. A$AP had two other songs that did chart this year, but I had "F*cking Problems" on last year's mix and "Wild For The Night" was one of my least favorite songs on his album. FK was one of my favorites, on the other hand, so that wasn't a real difficult choice.
12. The Neighbourhood -- Sweater Weather: I don't know, I just liked this one. So many pop songs are so worthless that I look hard for the ones that don't totally suck, and this one was the result of that digging. I hadn't heard of the band or song until I sat down to do put the mixes together.
13. J. Cole -- Power Trip f/ Miguel: It's rare that a rapper opens up about being stuck on a girl for so long, be it real or imagined, and the girl in this song is either real or a fantasy girl that he has concocted over a long period of time. Either way, it was powerful. Miguel makes his second appearance without having a song of his own.
14. Drake -- Hold On, We're Going Home: The only other contender for song of the year, in my humble opinion. I absolutely loved "Pound Cake," and briefly considered putting both tracks on the mix, but in the end I had to cut down to one, and this was the clear choice. It'll be interesting to see if Drake can keep getting better. I think his album this year was his best to date, which is saying a lot given how good his second album was.
15. Justin Timberlake -- Mirrors: If you told me sophomore year of college that the twerp from N'Sync would go on to be a multimedia icon for the next two decades, I would have laughed at you until you punched me in the throat, but that's where we find ourselves. The Jay-Z/JT concert at Fenway Park I went to this summer was pretty epic, and JT was never in finer form than when belting this one out. I also loved that he had the stones to go long with every song on this album. It's like he combined the original and remix in each song.
16. Paramore -- Still Into You: As someone who has been married for quite some time, this one really grabbed me. It's true for me, I hope it's true for you (or will be someday).
17. Eminem -- The Monster f/ Rihanna: Similar to my feelings about R. Kelly, I've come nearly full circle on Eminem. I want to eventually write about this topic in greater detail, but to say that I have fallen out of love with the man who once my favorite rapper would be a gigantic understatement. I thought most of his new album was garbage, but this track brings together the kind of topic selection that made him a star with gimmick-free lyrics, and Rihanna on the chorus. Hard to beat that.
18. Schoolboy Q: Collard Greens f/ Kendrick Lamar: Schoolboy Q is going to settle into a long career as the Pippen to Lamar's Jordan, and that is in no way a bad thing. He's a pretty gifted rapper, and whenever the two of them are side-by-side on a track, it's must-listen material.
19. Ellie Goulding -- Burn: Gotta love it when a song about smoking weed permeates pop culture like this one has.
Underground Mix
1. Chance The Rapper -- Juice: Based on this kid's experiences after getting suspended from school, I wish I had been more unruly in my high school days. Although I probably would have just played Madden the whole time, so maybe not. Looking forward to big things from Chancellor in the near future.
2. Janelle Monae -- What An Experience: This song just makes me happy. It's slow enough that you could partner up and slow dance to, but it's lively enough that you could be a little goofy while doing so. In other words, my kind of song. Other songs on her album gained more critical acclaim, but this was my favorite.
3. Danny Brown -- 25 Bucks f/ Purity Ring: One of the great crimes of this year is that I haven't had a chance to listen to Brown's album as much as I would like. Once I get heavy into editing The Hardball Times Annual (please buy a copy if you haven't already done so!) I tend to gravitate toward the familiar. As such, I end up listening to or watching the same things over and over again while editing. Aside from playoff baseball, Thor and Captain America on Netflix and the new Drake album were basically all I consumed for about a month and a half. That's too bad, because Brown's album is fantastic, and this cut especially.
4. Joey Bada$$ -- Unorthodox: The second mixtape that JB dropped, "Summer Knights," was a bit of a disappointment, but this track -- which was actually released about six months earlier as part of a promotion with Mountain Dew (??) -- was a standout. Part of that is due to the still-incredibly-enjoyable scratches from DJ Premier. Premier actually had a few tracks that could have made the cut, but the fact that I listened to this one for most of the year pushed it over the top.
5. Cage -- You Were the Sh*t in High School: Once upon a time, Cage and Eminem were the great white hope's of the underground. That was a long time ago, and Cage is certainly out there, but this one not only is a bit more grounded, but a tease of what his career could have been like.
6. Tony Touch -- Thought Process f/ Black Thought: Tony Toca returned this year, which was pretty surprising. I cut my teeth on his mixtapes once upon a time, and that he got new, non-NBC-glossy content from Black Thought was pretty sweet. Both men can still clearly bring it.
7. Cam'ron -- Golden Friends: Cam'ron -- who once flipped the Monday Night Football anthem, along with many, many others -- flipping the beat to the "Golden Girls" is about the least surprising thing ever. Literally the first song I ever heard from him was him flipping the Magnum PI beat for "357." As ever, Cam is hilarious.
8. Big Sean -- Control f/ Kendrick Lamar & Jay Electronica: The closest this generation will get to "Verbal Intercourse," with K. Dot as Nas, Big Sean as Raekwon & Jay Elec as Ghostface. This song is also on my short list for song of the year, and it tells you all that you need to know about Big Sean that he was too much of a coward to actually put this on his album. Yeah, K. Dot flamed you, but if you didn't know that was coming, then you are way dumber than I thought.
9. Havoc -- Life We Chose (Mobb Deep Remix) f/ Prodigy: Few three-word phrases delighted me as much as "Mobb Deep Remix" did this year. The original version of this song had Lloyd Banks instead of Prodigy, and generally a hip-hop remix will simply add verses rather than take them away, but Hav knew that Banks' contribution to the song was ultimately unnecessary. Hopefully this gets Hav and P back in the studio for '14.
10. Run The Jewels -- Banana Clipper f/ Big Boi: Also on the short list for song of the year. The first few times I listened to this, I thought Big Boi's contributions seemed tacked on, like an afterthought, but I've come around on that view. It's pretty sick that two decades in, El-P is still lacing tracks, and this project may have been his best to date -- still visceral, but also accessible. He and Killer Mike really have a great groove together.
11. Q-Tip & Busta Rhymes -- Butch & Sundance: Speaking of great grooves, this project was such a good idea I don't know why it didn't happen sooner. More of this, please!
12. Wu-Tang Clan -- Family Reunion: Not even half the Clan drops in on this track, but it's a great little song anyway. It's disappointing that we didn't get to hear the whole album this year, but hopefully it'll come to fruition in 2014.
13. Boldy James & Alchemist -- Moochie: I didn't think a "nicknames" track could be done better than Big L's "Ebonics," but this one is a rightful heir. Looking forward to seeing what this dude does in the future, especially if it's once again with Alchemist.
14. Czarface -- Rock Beast: One of the first 7L & Esoteric tracks I ever heard was "Speaking Real Words," with Inspectah Deck. I'm not sure they ever fly onto my radar without that Wu-Tang sign-off, to be honest. They have been delighting me ever since though, and have come full circle with a whole album with Inspectah Deck. There were other tracks with good guest shots, but this one hit the hardest for me.
15. Ghostface Killah & Adrian Younge -- The Sure Shot (Parts One & Two): In general, I didn't care much for the way this album went. I didn't care about the backstory of GFK being killed but melted on wax, and having a feud with the DeLuca crime family. I also wasn't in love with the beat selection. But this track, where the DeLuca's are only mentioned once, and the music is more "live band plays traditional hip-hop," was pretty sweet.
16. Action Bronson & Party Supplies -- Practice: I wasn't about to include anything from AB's reprehensible "Saab Stories" project, and considered leaving him off the mix altogether. But the "Blue Chips 2" project is a lot more upbeat and lively, and any song that includes Allen Iverson's most famous rant is a-OK with me.
17. Earl Sweatshirt -- Molasses f/ RZA: For the second straight year, Earl Sweatshirt clocks in at track #17. That happened by accident, but I thought it was funny that my mind continues to work in the same fashion. I love tracks that pair old school with new school, and this was one of the best examples of that this year.
18. Jay-Z -- Open Letter: Jay-Z's "Holy Grail Magna Carta" album was an abomination, and we will never speak of it again. But in the run-up to the album, he dropped this song, for free, and it was a great reminder of just how good Jay still is when he is engaged. Even the White House was compelled to respond to the song.
19. Prodigy & Alchemist -- Bible Paper: A match made in heaven.
20. Yancey Boys -- Quicksand f/ Common & Dezi Paige: I have never been big on J. Dilla, but this beat was nice, and even though I don't care that much for Common these days, he ripped it on this song.
21. R.A. The Rugged Man -- Legends Never Die (Daddy's Halo): If you can listen to this song without tearing up, there's a good chance that you're not human. If you know anything about R.A. The Rugged Man, you know this song was a big departure from what he normally does, which made it that much more special. If my son says anything even half as nice about me someday, I'll know I wasn't a total waste of space on this earth.
Bonus Christmas Track. Mr. Lif -- Santa's Got a Muthaf***in' Uzi: With the emotionally heavy song out of the way, I had to end with a Christmas track that was more off-beat and funny than it was nostalgic and warm and fuzzy. This one fit the bill to the T, and gave me an excuse to listen to Mr. Lif for the first time in years. Seriously, what happened to him?
Here are the Spotify embeds. Note again, that the Underground mix is incomplete on Spotify because almost half of the songs don't actually appear on Spotify. Enjoy!
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